Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Johns Hopkins offers its main undergraduate and graduate programs at the Homewood campus in Baltimore and maintains full-time campuses in greater Maryland, Washington, D.C., Italy, and China. Johns Hopkins is notable as the first university in the United States to put an emphasis on research, founded on the German university model. It is particularly famous for its schools of medicineFor medical research, U.S. News ranked the School of Medicine second nationally for 2007.and international studies.In an August 2005 study conducted by the College of William and Mary, with the results subsequently published in the November/December 2005 edition of Foreign Policy (FP) magazine, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) was ranked as the nation's top master's degree program in international relations.[http://mjtier.people.wm.edu/intlpolitics/teaching/surveyreport.pdf

General information

Johns Hopkins holds many "firsts" in American education. It was the first American research university, and the first American university to teach through seminars, instead of solely through lectures. The University was the first in America to offer an undergraduate major (as opposed to a purely liberal arts curriculum) and the first American university to grant doctoral degrees. Hopkins was a model for most large research universities in the United States, particularly the University of Chicago.

The University is named for Johns Hopkins, who left $7 million (USD) in his 1867 incorporation papers and 1873 will for the foundation of the University and Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the time, this was the largest philanthropic bequest in United States history, the equivalent of over $88.2 million in the year 2005. However, alumnus and former University board chairman Michael Bloomberg's confirmed personal donations, totaling over $200 million during the last two decades, make him the largest individual benefactor in Johns Hopkins University history. The University opened February 22, 1876, with the stated goal of "The encouragement of research ... and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and the society where they dwell." The University's first president was visionary educator Daniel Coit Gilman, and its motto in Latin is Veritas vos liberabit – "The truth shall make you free". The undergraduate student population at Hopkins was all male until 1970 although many graduate programs were integrated earlier.

The University was designed from the start to combine scholarship and research, and graduate education has always been of key importance. All students at Johns Hopkins are encouraged to pursue original research at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and nearly 80% of Johns Hopkins undergraduates produce research by the time of graduation. Johns Hopkins receives more federal research grants than any other university in the United States, which is vital considering its smaller endowment size relative to its peer institutions. The University is affiliated with 31 Nobel laureates. It boasts a wide spectrum in terms of its academic strengths, particularly in art history, biological and natural sciences, biomedical engineering, creative writing, English, history, economics, international studies, medicine, political theory, public health, public policy, and the Romance languages.

Johns Hopkins is one of fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and a member of the Consortium On Financing Higher Education (COFHE).

Origin of the name

Some people assume that the name of the university's founder is "John" Hopkins as opposed to "Johns" Hopkins. Hopkins' first name is the last name of his great-grandmother, Margaret Johns, who married Gerard Hopkins. They named their son Johns Hopkins, and his name was passed on to his grandson, the university's founder (1795-1873).

In a commencement address to the undergraduate Class of 2001, University President William R. Brody had the following to say about the name:

"In 1888, just 12 years after the university was founded, Mark Twain wrote about this university in a letter to a friend. He said:

A few months ago I was told that the Johns Hopkins University had given me a degree. I naturally supposed this constituted me a Member of the Faculty, and so I started in to help as I could there. I told them I believed they were perfectly competent to run a college as far as the higher branches of education are concerned, but what they needed was a little help here and there from a practical commercial man. I said the public is sensitive to little things, and they wouldn't have full confidence in a college that didn't know how to spell the name 'John'.

More than a century later, we continue to bestow our diplomas only upon individuals of outstanding capabilities and great talent. And we continue to spell Johns with an 's'."

Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering

Johns Hopkins offers undergraduate and graduate programs based at the Homewood campus, adjacent to Charles Village in northern Baltimore. The Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and the G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering are two of the three schools based at Homewood, with the third being the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education (SPSBE).

Among the many strong departments and programs at Johns Hopkins are art history biology biomedical engineering ^*," target="_blank" >biophysics ^*," target="_blank" >earth and planetary sciences economics ^*," target="_blank" >English film and media studies ^*," target="_blank" >geography and environmental engineering German ^*," target="_blank" >history international studies, Near Eastern studies ^*," target="_blank" >public policy, political science (a term coined by a Hopkins professor) ^* and sociology.

Notably, the Biomedical Engineering Department is widely recognized as one of the best in the nation, and the French Department was recognized as a "Center of Excellence" in the study of French culture and language by the government of France, one of only four in the United States. The Writing Seminars department -- a program in creative writing -- was ranked second-best in the nation by US News and World Report.

Johns Hopkins also offers undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Peabody Conservatory and the School of Nursing. Through collaborations with its graduate schools and international partners, undergraduate majors in areas such as public health or international studies can cross-register or apply for accelerated programs through the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine or SAIS's Bologna Center in Italy and Sciences Po in Paris. This unique experience promotes research opportunities among undergraduates with leading researchers in their respective fields, a rarity among other graduate focused research institutions. Finally, the university's rigorous academics and broad alumni base allow for easier transition to graduate school or integration into the workforce.

Professional Schools

In addition to the graduate programs at the Homewood campus, Johns Hopkins has several internationally respected graduate professional schools:

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is headquartered at the University's Medical Institutions campus in East Baltimore with Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The Bloomberg School of Public Health, founded in 1916, is the first and largest public health school in the world.

The School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is home to the nation's first Peace Corps Fellows Program in nursing.

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, based in Washington, DC, near Dupont Circle, is devoted to international studies, particularly international relations, diplomacy, and economics. (It is familiarly known as "SAIS", pronounced like the second syllable of precise). SAIS has full-time international campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China. Founded in 1943, the School became a part of the University in 1950. SAIS was ranked in a recent survey as the nation's top master's degree program in international relations. ^*.

The Peabody Institute, founded in 1857, is the oldest continuously active music conservatory in the United States, located in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood, it became a division of Johns Hopkins in 1977. The Conservatory retains its own student body and grants its own degrees in musicology, though both Hopkins and Peabody students may take courses at both institutions.

The University also offers education abroad through centers in Germany, Singapore, and Italy. The University operates the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, which specializes in research for the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and other Government agencies. The Space Telescope Science Institute is located on the Homewood campus and controls, analyzes, and collects data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The recently opened Information Security Institute is the newest addition to the graduate programs affiliated with Johns Hopkins. The Institute is the "University's focal point for research and education in information security, assurance and privacy.

Homewood Campus

The original main university campus was in downtown Baltimore City. However, this location did not permit room for growth and the trustees began to look for a place to move. Eventually, they would relocate to the estate of Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Homewood House, a wedding gift from Charles to his son Charles Jr.

The park-like main campus of Johns Hopkins, Homewood, is set on 140 acres (0.57 km²) in the northern part of Baltimore. The architecture was inspired by the Georgian style of Homewood House. Most newer buildings resemble the Georgian style, being built of red brick with white marble trim, but lack the details. Homewood House was later used for administrative offices but now is preserved as a museum.

As a part of the donation, Hopkins was required to donate part of the land for art. As a result, the Baltimore Museum of Art, which is not part of the University, is situated next to the University's campus, just southeast of Shriver Hall.

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, located on the Homewood Campus, is a nationally renowned center for the study of public policy. The Institute forms partnerships with other programs at Johns Hopkins to offer concentrations, specializations, certificates, and dual degrees related to public policy.

Medical Institutions Campus

This urban campus is in the East Baltimore neighborhood and is home to the School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the School of Nursing. It comprises several city blocks spreading from the main site where the original Johns Hopkins Hospital building was founded (and still exists). The School of Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University is associated with clinical practice at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Students

Johns Hopkins accepted 27% of 13,869 applicants for entrance into the fall 2006 freshman class. Undergraduate students matriculate from all 50 states and more than 50 countries. Within six years of graduation, 85% of Hopkins students earn graduate degrees, the highest percentage in the nation.

Approximately 1/3 of male undergraduates and 1/10 of females belong to the Greek system. Most of the fraternities maintain houses off campus, but the sororities tend not to do so.

Social life

On websites that collect student critiques, students often give social life at Hopkins barely average grades, slightly lower than with other highly selective universities.Students Review Johns Hopkins University

Both Johns Hopkins and the Charles Village community, however, have been striving to improve the neighborhood for students and community members. The Charles Village Project, scheduled for completion in 2008, will bring new commercial spaces to the neighborhood. Hopkins has also invested heavily in improving campus life for its students with the recent completion of an arts complex, the Mattin Centerand the O'Connor Recreation Center [http://apply.jhu.edu/tour/oconnor.html.

Student publications

Hopkins has several entirely student-run publications. Among those are: The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, The Carrollton Record, The Black & Blue Jay, Zeniada, j.mag, and Prometheus. The News-Letter is the oldest continuously published college newspaper in the nation, founded in 1896, and is published weekly. Named after Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence who owned what is now the Homewood campus, Carrollton Record is an alternative newspaper that focuses on both campus and city-wide events with a conservative approach. The Black & Blue Jay is among the nation's oldest humor magazines, founded in 1921, and is the inspiration for the University's mascot. Zeniada and j.mag are two literary magazines. Prometheus is the undergraduate philosophy journal ^*, and The Diplomat is the multi-disciplinary international relations journal.

Library system

The Milton S. Eisenhower Library (called "MSE" by students), located on the Homewood campus, houses over 2.6 million volumes and over 20,000 journal subscriptions. The Eisenhower Library is a member of the University's Sheridan Libraries encompassing collections at the Albert D. Hutzler Reading Room in Gilman Hall, the John Work Garrett Library at Evergreen House, and the George Peabody Library at Mount Vernon Place. Together these collections provide the major research library resources for the University, serving Johns Hopkins academic programs worldwide.

Only one of the MSE library's five stories are above ground; the rest are beneath, though architects designed the building so that every level has windows and natural light. The design accords with a bit of traditional campus lore which says no structure on campus can be taller than Gilman Hall, the oldest academic building. There is no written rule regarding building height, however, and the library's design was chosen for architectural and aesthetic reasons when it was finally built in the 1960's. Prior "master plans" for campus design over the previous decades had included massive, imposing buildings to house the library collections.

Athletics

The school's sports teams are named the Blue Jays. Hopkins has separate sets of colors: Columbia blue and black for athletic uniforms, and sable and gold for academic robes. It is the only university in the United States to celebrate Homecoming in the spring, to coincide with the height of the lacrosse season. Outside of the Men's and Women's Division I lacrosse teams, Hopkins participates in the NCAA's Division III and the Centennial Conference. The school's most prominent sports team is its Men's lacrosse team, which has won 43 national titles - 8 NCAA Division I (2005, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1974), 29 USILA, and 6 ILA titles. Hopkins' primary national lacrosse rivals are Princeton University, Syracuse University, and the University of Virginia; its primary intrastate rivals are Loyola College, Towson University, the United States Naval Academy, and the University of Maryland. The Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame, governed by US Lacrosse, is located on the Homewood campus and is adjacent to Homewood Field. Hopkins also has a century-old rivalry with McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), playing the Green Terrors 83 times in football since the first game in 1894.

Presidents of Johns Hopkins

Daniel Coit Gilman, May 1875 - August 1901
Ira Remsen, September 1901 - January 1913
Frank Goodnow, October 1914 - June 1929
Joseph Sweetman Ames, July 1929 - June 1935
Isaiah Bowman, July 1935 - December 1948
Detlev Bronk, January 1949 - August 1953
Lowell Reed, September 1953 - June 1956
Milton S. Eisenhower, July 1956 - June 1967 & March 1971 - January 1972
Lincoln Gordon, July 1967 - March 1971
Steven Muller, February 1972 - June 1990
William C. Richardson, July 1990 - July 1995
Daniel Nathans, June 1995 - August 1996
William R. Brody, August 1996 - present

Notable alumni, professors, and staff

''See: List of Johns Hopkins University people